At Christmas, we simply think more about angels. We sing Christmas carols like Hark the Herald Angels Sing. We have angels adorning our Christmas trees. We send and receive Christmas cards with angels on the front. Ladies wear angel like jewelry. We watch our favorite Christmas movies with angels such as Jimmy Stewart’s It’s a Wonderful Life with Clarence the 2nd class angel who is trying to win his wings.
Most of us have heard angel stories from our childhood. Billy Graham in his 1975 Angels: God's Secret Agents told this angel story about his wife’s grandmother’s death: “The room seemed to fill with a heavenly light. She sat up in bed and almost laughingly said, ‘I see Jesus. He has his arms outstretched toward me. I see Ben [her husband who had died some years earlier], and I see the angels.’ Then she slumped over, absent from the body but present with the Lord.”
Now, however, more than ever people are caught up with angels and not just at Christmas time. Some call it angel mania, an obscene obsession with the spirit world. Angel stories abound on-line and in many books about angels helping people with life’s difficulties from changing their flat tire to rescuing them from a burning building.
People have always believed in angels as a study of church history shows:
1. In the 2nd Century church fathers bordered on considering angels divine. Justin Martyr in his Apology stated that Christians reverence and worship not only the Son but also angels.
2. In the 5th and 6th century pseudonymous Dionysius' book Celestial Hierarchy became the source of medieval angelology. "This book---was so important that some medieval theologians, such as Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141), wrote commentaries on it. Because a convert of Paul was thought to be its author, the book was treated as the next best thing to the New Testament, and since it was far more detailed in its treatment of angels, it became the source of medieval angelology" (Kenneth D. Boa and Robert M. Bowman, Jr. Sense & Nonsense About Angels & Demons, 67).
3. The 13th century was the heyday for angelology. University students were required to take courses in angelology. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) was known as The Angelic Doctor. In his Summa Theologica, Aquinas answered 118 questions concerning angels.
4. The 16th century John Calvin rejected pseudo-Dionysius and helped put a stop to excessive angelology. Calvin wrote, "If your read that book, you would think a man fallen from heaven recounted, not what he had learned, but what he had seen with his own eyes. Yet Paul, who had been caught up beyond the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2), not only said nothing about it, but also testified that it is unlawful for any man to speak of the secret things that he has seen (12:4)" (John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1. 14.4).
5. Belief in angels dropped to an all time low in 19th and 20th century. Belief in angels was thought to be superstitious nonsense. As late as 1982, Mortimer J. Adler, a prominent American philosopher, wrote in his book Angels and Us “It would appear to be a dead subject, of interest only to historians, and of limited interest even to them” (page 17).
6. In the 1990s, however, interest in angels skyrocketed. From 1993 to 2003, Touched by An Angel was a prime-time portrayal of angels. By 2000, four out of five people in America believed in angels. Angels are big business in our society, which already suffers from angel mania. "Angelphilia" is the name Duane Garrett gives to this unprecedented addiction with angels in his book Angels and the New Spirituality on page 9.
There are two over simplistic reactions to angel mania:
1. Accept all claims concerning angels.
This is a very dangerous reaction. It was alleged angels that communicated revelation, which started two false religions. Muhammad started Islam when the angel Gabriel recited to him the Qur’an. The Qur’an has three Christological passages that deny the deity of Christ, so Gabriel who announced the birth of Christ could not have dictated the Qur'an. Twelve centuries later Joseph Smith started Mormonism when he received the golden plates from Moroni that contained the Book of Mormons.
2. Deny the existence of angels.
“Skeptics generally dismiss all accounts about angels as superstitious nonsense, to be classified along with alleged sightings of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, alien spacecraft, and Elvis” (Sense & Nonsense About Angels & Demons, 19).
The Sadducees of Jesus day also did not believe in angels and to them Jesus said, “You are wrong.” And then Jesus added the reason they were wrong, “Because you do not know the scriptures” (Matthew 22:29). There is only one reliable source for us on which to base what we believe about angels, and that is the Scriptures. Not what people claim in their angel stories or what angels say to angel enthusiasts?
The two primary purposes of angels are to serve God and worship God and both are seen in the Christmas story in Luke 1 and 2.
1. ANGELS WERE CREATED TO SERVE GOD
Angels are called “ministering spirits” in Hebrews 1:14. Let’s go to the Christmas story in Luke 1 and 2 where these “ministering spirits” played an important role in the first Christmas. One of the ways angels serve the Lord is by delivering messages which Gabriel does twice in Luke one.
A. Angels Delivered God’s Messages
1) An angel delivered the first message concerning the forerunner of Jesus in Luke 1:5-25
John would be born six months before Jesus and would be His forerunner. The Old Testament Hebrew word for angel is mal’ak and the New Testament Greek word for angel is angelos and both mean “messenger.”
a) Angels delivered God’s Word to people (1:13-17)
"In fact, major bodies of Scripture are said to have been administrated to humans by angels, including the Mosaic Law (Gal 3:19); the Book of Revelation (Rev 1:1) and the visions of Daniel (Dan 7, 8, 9)" (Robert Lightner. Angels, Satan, and Demons, 125). Since God’s Word is complete angels no longer perform this ministry. Jude 2 says the Gospel has once and for all been delivered. Current angel enthusiasts need to remember that angels do not perform all the ministries today they did in Bible times.
Angels are spirits which explains how they can be “in the presence of God” (1:19) one minute and the next minute delivering God’s message to someone on earth. Their ministry is seen in the word “angel” or messenger. Their nature is seen in the word “spirit.” Angels have no physical body. Angels never die. That is one reason Jesus became a man and not an angel according to Hebrews 2:9, 16, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death …. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” Jesus became human so that His physical body could be nailed to the cross, bear our sins, physically die, and resurrect.
b) Angels also delivered messages of judgment (1:18-20)
In Genesis 19, two angels pronounced judgment on Sodom. In the future angels pour out the judgments of Revelation, 8-9, 16. Today alleged angelic appearances never bring messages of judgment. Sophy Burnham in her book A Book of Angels says that angels are so popular today “because we created this concept of God as punitive, jealous, judgmental.” Burnham then says, “Angels never are. They are utterly compassionate” (Quoted by David Jeremiah in What the Bible says about Angels, 51). This implies God is not compassionate, and angels are not instruments of judgment. Both beliefs are wrong in light of Scripture.
Sometimes angels are invisible, but at times they appear human. Angels are also described as having wings. On rare occasions, brilliant lights accompany angels. "Angels get so absorbed in their work that even their appearance is governed by their assignment. Depending on the task God gives them in serving us, they may remain invisible to our eyes, or appear in ordinary human form, or take on some more glorious aspect. Their form---what they are---depends on their function---what they do. As J. M. Wilson says, 'In general they are simply regarded as embodiments of their mission'" (David Jeremiah. What the Bible Says About Angels, 181). We have observed Gabriel performing his ministry of delivering his message to Zacharias. Now he delivers his greatest message.
2) An angel delivered the second message concerning the virgin birth of Jesus in Luke 1:26-47
a) Angels focused their attention on God and not themselves (1:26-38)
Gabriel once again is sent from God in heaven to deliver a message to Mary in Nazareth about her virgin birth of Christ. Gabriel delivers his message “and departed from her” (1:38). The study of angels is difficult because the Bible is God-centered and not angel-centered. “Every reference to angels is incidental to some other topic. They are not treated in themselves. God’s revelation never aims at informing us regarding the nature of angels. When they are mentioned, it is always in order to inform us further about God, what he does, and how he does it” (Millard Erickson. Christian Theology, 434).
b) When Mary visits Elisabeth, both of them make much of Christ, not the angel who had visited them (1:39-47)
Billy Graham called angels, “God’s secret agents” for a reason. Angels do not draw attention to themselves when they deliver God’s message. They fly under the radar. They are stealth in their ministry. They are invisible. They prefer not to be seen or recognized. In Luke one, Gabriel said little about himself. He appears, delivers God’s message and then disappears. Their appearance is nondescript. Mark 16:5 says the angel was “a young man.” Luke 1:11 says simply “an angel of the Lord appeared.” That is in stark contrast today with angel mania.
John Randolph Price in his book The Angels within Us (that is an odd title because the only people who have angels in them are sinners who are demon possessed with a fallen angel. So if you have an angel within you, you are in trouble) described a female angel who had “the face and form of a beautiful woman wearing a flowing white robe trimmed in gold” (page 4). I think angels are embarrassed with so much attention given to them.
B. Angels Are Watching Our Ministry
In 1 Corinthians 4:9 Paul says we are a spectacle or theater to the world and angels. Not only are unsaved watching our lives but also God’s angels are observing how we serve God. I wonder if angels are pleased with our service to the God they so willingly serve?
C. Angels Model Ministry For Us
Sometimes Scripture pictures angels with six wings to show the swiftness with which angels obey God’s commands (Isaiah six). In His model prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) by angels.
2. GOD ALSO CREATED ANGELS TO WORSHIP HIM
(In Revelation 22:8-9 John was forbidden to worship the angel who delivered to him the book of Revelation.)
A. Those Caught Up In The Angel Craze Worship Angels
1) Some religions even encourage and teach angel worship
John MacArthur writes, “Did you know that along with worshiping God and Christ, the Catholic Church has promoted the worship (i.e. veneration) of saints and angels for centuries? In his book on Catholic theology, Ludwig Ott writes, ‘The worship of angels by men is justified. That which the council of Trent teaches as to the invoking and worshiping of saints may also be applied to angels.’ And so they worshiped angels---the primary angel is Michael. In fact, in the Catholic calendar there is an event called Michaelmas September 29th. There were even two famous and large churches built to honor him: one by Constantine near Constantinople, and the other in Rome” (God, Satan and Angels, MacArthur, 126).
2) Paul forbad the worshiping of angels in Colossians 1:16; 2:18-19 because believers were already being tempted by the Gnostics to worship angels.
Worship of angels is a substitute for worshiping God. Joan Webster Anderson writes in her book Where Angels Walk: True Stories of Heavenly Visitors, “Angels offer a form of spirituality devoid of Jesus and God ... the search is for spirituality, but without God” (What the Bible says about Angels, 16).
B. The Worship Of God Is One Of The Chief Activities Of Angels
1) The angel who announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds was joined by an angelic choir who broke out in the worship of God in Luke 2:13-14
2) There is a special group of angels around God’s throne who always worship
This group is mentioned in Revelation 4:8: “The four living creatures had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” This group of angels will lead you and me in worshiping God for His great creation in 4:9-11.
3) Soon after their creation when God created the heavens, angels shouted for joy when God next created the earth as recorded in Job 38:7
Erwin Lutzer, in a message, said that perhaps God lined up all the angels He had just created when He created the heavens and just before He created the earth and the universe in six days and said, "Watch this!" And when God said, "Let there be light" and there was so much light that the angels shouted and sang God's praise.
4) We will join this choir in Heaven one day in Revelation 5
Read this preview of our participation in worship in heaven and imagine what it will be like when we join the innumerable angelic choir blessing God for our redemption.
C. Angels Observe Our Worship
According to 1 Corinthians 11:10 angels are watching if we are submissive to one another in worship. What do angels who model perfect worship think of our worship?
Conclusion. We, believers, can please angels who are fellow servants (Revelation 22:8-9) when we serve God as His messengers and worshipers, but the unsaved can also bring delight to angels by trusting Christ. Jesus made this point: “I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).